after attending to his worldly affairs he expired, July 4, 1541.[1]
With few exceptions, Alvarado's men left Guadalajara after their leader's death. But the garrisons posted at different points remained for some time at Oñate's request; and at last a detachment of troops arrived from Mexico. Fifty men, sent by Mendoza, under Captain Juan de Muncibay, came late in July and increased the number of defenders to eighty-five. And the revolted natives, elated at their recent victory, redoubled their efforts to enlist in the struggle for freedom those who had heretofore held aloof.
Many native chiefs, however, remained faithful to the Spaniards. One of these, Francisco Ganguillos of Ixcatlan, distinguished himself by arresting thirty of the rebel emissaries from Matlatlan, sending them to Guadalajara, where they were put to death[2] after having revealed a plan to attack the city in September, the intention being to annihilate the Spaniards before Mendoza could arrive with succor. At a council of war it was resolved to defend the city to the last, though some of the officers were in favor of abandoning the country, or at least of retreating to Tonalá. Oñate, however, objected, maintaining that the Indians there were as treacherous as elsewhere.
The strongest buildings about the plaza were fortified, the rest being abandoned and torn to pieces for material to strengthen the defences. In the mean time Captain Muncibay and Juan de Alvarado made a reconnoissance, during which they had a sharp fight, and a thousand natives are said to have been slain.
- ↑ His remains were deposited in the chapel of Our Lady in Guadalajara; subsequently transferred to Tiripitio, thence to Mexico, and finally to Guatemala, Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 395-6, rightly remarks: 'Torquemada and Remesal erred when, speaking of Alvarado's death, they say it occurred at Etzatlan, or on the height of Mochitiltic, between Guadalajara and Compostela, and that the adelantado was buried at Etzatlan; and that Bernal Diaz errs still more, saying that it happened on some peñoles called Cochitlan, near Purificacion.' The sad fate which overtook Alvarado's wife, Doña Beatriz de la Cueva, during the destruction of the city of Guatemala, and the biographical sketch of Alvarado, are given in Hist. Cent. Am., ii., this series.
- ↑ Sept. 6, 1541. Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 399.
